Business
President Museveni presides over signing of Host Government Agreement for Crude Oil Pipeline with Total- Video
President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated TOTAL upon concluding the Host Government Agreement for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline project between the Ugandan government and the exploration company.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Mary-Gorett Kitutu, signed on behalf of the Uganda while Nicolas Terraz, the Total Exploration and Production President for Africa, signed on behalf of his employer.
The president presided over the signing of the HGA at State house Entebbe on Friday. He noted that this moves the country closer to production of crude oil.
“It has taken long but I want to assure Ugandans that this was deliberate. We have gone through every item. Uganda is a rich country, with oil as a small fraction of this wealth. The big part is agriculture, industry, services and human resource. Oil however, can spark off transformation” Mr. Museveni said.
The TOTAL group was led by CEO and Chairman Patrick Pouyanne. The president promised to get in touch with his Tanzanian counterpart H.E John Pombe Magufuli to follow up on Tanzania’s host agreement.
He further congratulated the Ugandan team of negotiators. “I congratulate our Ugandan team, they are good negotiators. We now have a good petroleum team in terms of science, economics. They will always help me because they know everything that’s happening in the world in the oil sector” The President said.
Minister Kitutu said once the oil companies make the final investment decision, the opportunities for investment in the country will grow exponentially and give a boost to the economy.
She later said local companies should take advantage of this agreement to tap into opportunities in the oil sector.
Total CEO Pouyanne said this is a great achievement between the Total and the Government of Uganda.
“It was a bumpy road but I am glad we have overcome the challenges. I thank the teams from both sides that have worked tirelessly” he said.
He commended President Museveni for his leadership and promised that the project would be executed successfully.
